Association of Campylobacter spp. levels between chicken grow-out environmental samples and processed carcasses.

Campylobacter spp. have been isolated from live poultry, production environments, processing facilities, and raw poultry products. Environmental sampling in a poultry grow-out house, combined with carcass rinse sampling from the same flock, may provide a relative relationship between pre- and postharvest Campylobacter contamination. Air samples, fecal/litter samples, and feed/drink line samples were collected from 4 commercial chicken grow-out houses in western Virginia between September 2011 and January 2012. Birds from each sampled house were the first flock slaughtered the following day and were then sampled by postchill carcass rinses. Campylobacter, from postenrichment samples, was detected in 27% (32/120) of house environmental samples and 37.5% (45/120) of carcass rinse samples. All environmental sample types from each house included at least one positive sample except the house 2 air samples. The sponge sample method was found to have a significantly higher (P < 0.05) proportion of Campylobacter-positive samples (45%) than the fecal/litter samples (20%) and air samples (15%) when sample types of all the houses were compared. The proportion positive for the fecal/litter samples postenrichment, for each flock, had the highest correlation (0.85) to the proportion of positive carcass rinse samples for each flock. Environmental samples from house 1 and associated carcass rinses accounted for the largest number of Campylobacter positives (29/60). The fewest number of Campylobacter positives, based on both house environmental (4/30) and carcass rinse samples (8/30), was detected from flock B. The results of this study suggest that environmental sampling in a poultry grow-out house, combined with carcass rinse sampling from the same flock, have the potential to provide an indication of Campylobacter contamination and transmission. Campylobacter qualitative levels from house and processing plant samples may enable the scheduled processing of flocks with lower pathogen incidence or concentrations, as a way to reduce postslaughter pathogen transmission.